Thank you for the information on the Mauna Loa, it was my favorite as kid in Detroit. I was working next to it in 1979/1980 (dont remember) after the fire that shut it down and I paid the wrecking guy $20 for two real very well carved tiki's which are now in my tiki room. Many of the carvings and decorations were piled on the street and had been purchased by a decor company...

On 2013-02-04 12:42, OrlandoBond wrote:Thank you for the information on the Mauna Loa, it was my favorite as kid in Detroit. I was working next to it in 1979/1980 (dont remember) after the fire that shut it down and I paid the wrecking guy $20 for two real very well carved tiki's which are now in my tiki room. Many of the carvings and decorations were piled on the street and had been purchased by a decor company...

Hi- thanks for the info !! was wondering if you would be so kind as to post some pics of the tikis you have (and any other items) from the mauna loa ? - we like to document stuff on this site for future reference and it's always cool to track what vintage tiki bar items ended up where and to have a historical record of them, especially from places like mauna loa that were not in business very long and have a little to no record of their interiors and decor items. So many vintage tiki bar items were lost or destroyed when a place closed down. It's always encouraging to hear about things resurfacing years later. Thanks in advance !!

1967 During the 1960s, the popularity of tiki bars and restaurants exploded like a South Seas volcano. Carved masks, palm trees, beaded curtains, and rattan furniture became the décor rage, and exotic drinks laced with rum, pineapple, and coconut were merrily chugged down. Trader Vic's in the Hotel Statler and the Chin Tiki on Cass were well-known downtown Polynesian-themed restaurants, but for over-the-top exotica, no place matched the Mauna Loa. It opened in 1967 on West Grand Boulevard, across the street from the old General Motors building in the city's New Center. Palm trees and waterfalls set the tone outside, but the interior, divvied up into several themed rooms, was almost outlandish in its ambience. The 1970 book Detroit: A Young Guide to the City dubbed the Mauna Loa "the Disneyland of Detroit restaurants" and offered this vivid description: "Every inch of its enormous interior is splashed with colors and shapes … catamarans slung from the ceiling, palms, giant blowfish lanterns, streams gurgling past the tables … a pool where girls dive for pearls." A 1967 article in The Detroit News made note of the Mauna Loa's "lighted waterfalls flowing from nearly every corner" and "romantic lights glowing from stuffed blowfish." For all its spectacular adornments, the Mauna Loa lasted only a few years and was later taken over by a seafood restaurant that burned down. Today, the area where the lavish restaurant stood is part of the Hotel St. Regis property, and Detroit's slice of Polynesia, however kitschy, is just a glamorous memory — although Mauna Loa tiki mugs and menus sometimes turn up on eBay.

Great thread! Wish I had gone to the Mauna Loa; I worked in downtown Detroit when it was in operation. Guess it was too pricey for my paycheck. Scored this spoon today for my tiki collection, just a few miles from home. It's probably not rare but is my first Mauna Loa find.

Although the first page of the drink menu has been posted early in the thread by Sven, here is the rest of the drink menu (finally!). It was on ebay a month ago or so and I was hoping the winner would post some nice pics of it. Meanwhile, here are the ebay listing pictures which I thought I should post...

So it seems that the Mauna Loa also (like Trader Vic's) used the red Port Light glass from Imperial glass Company for their Port Light drink.

And here on the back page we see the famed drum mug used for the Mauna Coffee!

Quite a few more drinks on the inside back cover.

Surprisingly I don't see any communal bowl drinks. Not even the the classic Scorpion bowl for 2. Odd.

What, to me at least is the big mystery still, and a source of frustration frankly, is: what was the Cauldron Mug used for? Maybe it was used for a hot soup or something instead. Any thoughts???

WOW !!!! I been looking for that menu for years. Thank you so much for posting the pics. Just amazing. Can you read what the description is below the Polynesian Pigeon? Thanks again for the pics.
_________________"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

Thanks Tattoo. The Mauna Loa is defiantly one of the most mysterious of the legendary Tiki palaces. It was open for such a short time that the few relics that survive are truly rare. That lack of artifacts including paper items and photos only add to the allure of this classic location. Any found items help add to the story. Reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite movies "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend". Hopefully the facts will keep showing up and will keep the legend intact.
_________________"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann